Boy, 7, trampled by half-tonne bull who jumped fence to attack him

A young boy in New Zealand has been left in a serious condition after being trampled by an enormous bull weighing 78 stone (550kg).

The shocking incident took place on Sunday afternoon in Woodbury, near Geraldine in the Canterbury region of the South Island.

The seven-year-old had been looking at some animals standing in a paddock when the bull attacked.

He was flown to Christchurch Hospital with abdominal injuries and fractured ribs, the New Zealand Herald reports.

A Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue spokesman said the boy had been with his family when the bull jumped the fence and stomped on him.

St John confirmed they attended an “animal incident” in Geraldine at about 12:35pm on April 18 and transferred a patient in serious condition to Christchurch Hospital.

A police spokeswoman said she could not add any further details as local officers were not involved in the callout.

No further information has been made available regarding the incident.

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There are more than six million cattle in New Zealand, which has a human population of just under five million.

Dairy farming is one of the pillars of the Pacific nation’s economy, despite evidence that current agricultural practices are harmful to the environment.

Bull attacks are uncommon but can be deadly due to the massive size and power of the bovine animals.

In 2019 a bull was filmed “tearing a man apart” after an informal council-run matador event in Colombia turned to chaos.

More than 30 people were injured in the horror incident at the traditional corraleja festival, although it was never confirmed if the man seen being attacked died from his injuries or if he survived.

Three years earlier in 2016 there was another shocking bull incident in Spain, when a man was gored after a bull squeezed through the bars of a cage designed to protect onlookers from the animal.